Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

U.S. Forest Service Does Wildfire Prevention at Gorongosa

Apr 20, 2010

Fire has been a part of Gorongosa’s ecosystem for many years. Low-intensity, small-scale fires, including prescribed fires lit by Park officials, helped prevent large catastrophic fires and allowed grasses to regenerate. These fires have a cleansing effect on forests by removing the accumulation of tall dead grasses.



Today, between 50 to 80 percent of Gorongosa National Park burns every year from large, human-caused wildfires. In September 2009, approximately one third of the Wildlife Sanctuary burned from high-intensity wildfires, putting at risk the ecoystem and the wildlife.

Historically, the wildlife population of Gorongosa, specifically large animals who graze, kept most of the Park’s vegetation down so that if a fire were ignited, its intensity would be low. But years of instability in Mozambique led to the decimation of wildlife, and vegetation has grown uncontrollably and died; these tall dry grasses are then prone to large-scale, high-intensity wildfires. Fires, combined with slash-and-burn practices of local communities and the use of fire by poachers accessing game, have resulted in fires that are now larger, more severe, and harder to control than fires previously experienced in the Park. Today’s fires threaten the Park’s wildlife, as well as the larger ecosystems within and around the Park.

Uncontrolled fires in Gorongosa also have far-reaching sociocultural implications. To address these issues, two fire professionals from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS) visited Gorongosa National Park for two weeks in early December 2009, to provide a fire management assessment for the Park, conduct a fire management-and-education workshop for Park managers, and provide recommendations to address the Park’s future fire management needs. Jaime Tarne, USFS forest prevention officer, and Colt Mortenson, USFS fire management officer, worked with Park staff to better understand the issues, learn about the Park firsthand, and help educate Park management about applicable fire education and management techniques used in the U.S.

The USFS sent staff to the Park through its office of international programs. It has long experience and expertise in providing institutional support to governments and non-governmental organizations to build capacity for forestry and other natural resource management institutions and develop and implement forestry policies.



The USFS staff developed a fire strategy for the Park, taking into account the current wildfire (hot fire) situation and the infrastructure in the Park. The strategy covers four main fire management points: a fire danger rating system, fire prevention, fire suppression and prescribed (cold) fires, and fire equipment and future trainings.

The Gorongosa Restoration Project and USFS are working together to provide technical and analytical services to Gorongosa National Park and its buffer zone; this partnership will contribute to sustainable management of natural resources and development to improve communities’ livelihoods.

Disturbance—either by periodic fire or grazing wildlife—is an important part of Gorongosa’s ecosystem. If the vegetation is not grazed or burned, it can become “decadent” (over abundant and unrestrained) within three years. These decadent grasses fuel the fire when one occurs, increasing the intensity of the burn. In Gorongosa they can grow three meters tall and are so thick that one cannot walk through them.

In addition to the fire hazard posed by decadent grasses, the nutritional value of the vegetation decreases as it matures, causing a detrimental effect for both large and small herbivores. Disturbance in the form of grazing and/or fire can rejuvenate the vegetation, increasing its nutritional value—as long as it is not over-grazed or burned too severely.

After their visit, USFS presented Park Management with a plan to address the Park’s wildfires:

1) Park Management should continue GNP’s prescribed fire program and include burning in a planned rotation over a larger area.

2) Further development and implementation of a fire prevention program for buffer zone communities is necessary, including more training in cold fire techniques (see Gogogo October 2008 issue on Cold Fire Training) and training in organic farming methods to improve soil.

3) Given the relationship between the fires and poaching, more complex solutions to GNP’s poaching must be used to solve the problem.

4) There is an urgent need to establish and utilize a fire danger rating system to communicate current danger ratings to local communities.

As more animals are reintroduced and current populations remain viable and successful, Gorongosa’s wildlife will start to achieve a healthier and more “natural” balance with their environment, ultimately resulting in reduced fuel loads in the Park. Fires will enter a more natural cycle of reduced severity and frequency, assisted by the decrease in starts by local communities and poachers. “Cold” or prescribed burning will help re-establish more natural fires. Ideally, within 20 years, neither prescribed fires nor wildfires will be significant issues for the Park, as the ecosystem will have returned to a more natural balance supporting some of the densest and most diverse wildlife populations in all of Africa.